The epistle of James is one of the most controversial included in the canon of the New Testament. Why the controversy? James (almost certainly Jesus brother) sets out in his letter to deal with the problem of a church that does church yet really does nothing! James is forthright in spelling out some home truths to his readers. Jamess letter addressed reallife churches with reallife problems. The church that James addressed had a tendency to substitute the performance of religion for a life devoted to Jesus and obedience to His commands This church had people whose words were so vicious that James points to hell as their source, so vindictive that James equates their words with murder, and so slanderous that he reminds them of the future judgment that will take into account their actions and their speech. Chris Morgan This devotional commentary has three sections 1) James in Context enables you to understand who wrote it and the situation that it addressed. 2) Commentary divided into the major divisions of the epistle (pericopes) so that you can see the structure of the teaching as well as a versebyverse explanation. 3) The Theology of James sets out the larger themes (eg justification) of the epistle and how it relates to the rest of scripture.

Christopher W. Morgan is Professor of Theology at California Baptist University and Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Barstow CA.

B. Dale Ellenburg was associate pastor for preaching at Kirby Woods Baptist Church and VicePresident of Academics at MidAmerica Baptist Seminary in the Memphis area and is now pastor of Dotson Memorial Baptist Church in Maryville TN.